The Harder They Try, the Behinder They Get.

Well, good! The National Association of Railroad Passengers has formally asked the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Anthony Foxx, to bring the parties together and see what can be done to get Amtrak’s Empire Builder back on some kind of reasonable schedule.

Ross Capon, NARP president and CEO summed the association’s concerns up in the following paragraph:

“Delays of up to eight to ten hours have plagued the Empire Builder, inflicting extreme inconvenience—often at considerable personal expense—to literally thousands of Amtrak passengers and their families.”

NARP’s letter was released to the national media and it was subsequently picked up by the Associated Press. The AP, in turn, wrote a story and sent it out to their subscribing media. So far, that story, or a rewrite of it, has appeared on ABC News, at least a half-dozen newspapers, and in Travel Weekly, the bible of the hospitality industry.

So, finally, the light of public exposure has illuminated the problems, inconvenience and expense facing anyone riding the Empire Builder over the last several months and with no end in sight.

Consider the plight of passengers about the eastbound Empire Builder today: The train was two hours late when it departed Shelby, Montana, at 1:30 yesterday afternoon. By the time it got to Staples, Minnesota, today, it was 11 hours and 27 minutes late.In other words, that train lost nine-and-a-half hours while covering just over 900 miles of it’s route.

There are 2 Comments.

Well, from what I hear, that’s not likely. I’d wait until you’re about two weeks from departure and then check the Builder’s on time performance for the previous week or so. You can do that on the NARP web site. (www.narprail.com) If it’s still bad, change your reservation on the San Juans and book a room that night in Seattle. I can give you a couple of recommendations if you need them.

I do hope things improve. I have booked from Chicago to East Glacier on June 27 then from East Glacier on July 2 to Seattle. The train is due Seattle at 10.25am on July 3 and I have a reservation on the San Juan islands that night.